Response from another (non medical) platform. I have permission to share on the wo maame tw3
Good morning, Doc.
You won’t come across as “very vulgar” at all. In fact, you’ve rather broken a perceived cultural taboo. How I wish your piece were read out and interpreted in Twi on our numerous Twi-speaking radio stations.
Again, this and other pieces of yours highlighting the great work you are doing may win you an award in your lifetime; not a posthumous one needlessly celebrating you when you are gone. That’s my wish for you although I don’t know you or any other thing about you apart from what you post here on a daily basis. Indeed, your work speaks volumes.
Thanks for this interesting post. Your ability to handle such an otherwise culturally sensitive subject-matter in an almost thriller-style shows your genius. Your ability to wear the stethoscope and hold the pen in equal measure shows the gem in you, a combination of rare talents in one capsule. Every morning, when I wake up to read your posts, I keep asking myself, ” how does he do it?”, “how does he write so much and still go to the consulting room and the theatre?, “how much time does he have?”. You are an inspiration, Dr. Kofi Effah.
By the way, our courts broke the taboo of using euphemistic names for certain culturally sensitive organs in the courtroom, as far back as, in the 1960s. So in the courtroom, words like k)te, 3tw3, trumu etc are called by their names and nothing else. And every court user, especially lawyers and court clerks, will tell you it’s helpful to use those words instead of cladding them in local euphemisms which might becloud their meanings or lead to some ambiguity. In the defamation case of Wankyiwaa vs. Wireduaa, the phrase “stinking/stinky vagina” in Twi, “wotw3 kankan” became the subject-matter of a litigation. It travelled through several courts starting from the Juaso-Bompata Local court, Kumasi East District court, Kumasi Magistrate court, Kumasi Circuit court and, ultimately, the High Court, Kumasi. At the High Court, the judge encouraged the parties and the court clerks to use the words, “stinking/stinky vagina” in the open as no amount of vulgar words could contaminate the court. Henceforth, all “vulgar” words “k)te k3si3”, “3tw3 kankan”, “wotrumu kankan” etc are used just as they are in open court without any apology.
Well, since this forum is not a courtroom, I wish to apologise to all respected members whose sensibilities, sensitivities and temperaments could probably not imbibe the “vulgar” words impertinently visited on them so early in the day. All in good faith.
